Diabetes doesn't define me, but it helps explain me.

Dexcom Warrior: Day Two.

I climb into bed, pump clipped to my shorts on one side and the Dexcom receiver resting on top of Chris's pillow. The air conditioner whirring and sleep coming at me fast, I reach over and check quickly with my meter. 92 mg/dl. Dexcom tells me I'm 132 mg/dl and indicates that I'm holding steady, so I close my eyes and fall asleep.

2:30 am: The sound is so shrill it cuts through the silence and reaches directly into my ears. I jump from the bed with a start and reach over for the Dexcom... which is making the noise. From down the hall.

"What the hell are you doing?"

Siah looks at me, her tail puffed up and her eyes wide with surprise. The Dexcom she has dragged out of bed and down the hallway has started buzzing and shrilling and she's not quite sure what to do.

"Siah! You little pain in the ..." I reach down and grab the receiver, smashing my sleepy hands against the buttons to stop the noise. It eventually quiets after I hit "ok." I check the display - 98 mg/dl. Not high, not low. What caused that shrilling sound?

I bring the receiver back to bed and place it on the pillow. Siah follows, tail slightly puffy but purring in apology. She climbs up on the bed and settles gently next to the receiver.

She licks the edge of the receiver case and tucks her nose into her paws.

Aside from the cat issues, the Dexcom-induced OCD has passed a bit. I'm not clicking the buttons every five seconds to see where I'm at. I am, however, noticing that my mornings are chaotic. Between 8 am and 11 am, my stress levels mirror my blood sugars - pinging all over the place and rapidly, at that. I'll go from 90 to 190 in the blink of an eye. This convinces me further that my diabetes and my emotions are linked at their very cores.

Also, this little experiment is good for my ego, in that it makes me feel good to see all these little graph numbers plotting in their assigned ranges. This morning has been excellent. I wonder what is causing that - paying attention more? The "reward" of seeing a nice line on the graph instead of enormous peaks and valleys? The techo-joy of a new diabetes toy?

Either way, Day Two will also include my first gym workout with Dexcom. I'm so curious to see what happens to my numbers while I'm working out. I also wonder if this sensor will be irritating while I workout.

Hey Kerri,
this is so cool your on the dexcom! Even though i'm on the minimed sensor, it is a little different, but the beeping noises---they always wake me up somehow, which is awesome, but maybe it was beeping for a calibration? Ever time i forgot to acalibrate at a reasonable time, it woke me up at like 3 in the morning! haha.
Does that happen with the dexcom? Do you have to calibrate like 2-4 times a day? Just wondering. :)

Anyways, i share your love of seeing the graphs and pretty straight lines instead of all the ups and downs, its like, "ooohhh wow, thats soooo nice." (if only blood sugars could always really be like that) :) hehe.

I havent been on the sensor for almost a month, and i'm thinking i need to go back on it, because i really miss those graphs and alarms.

This comment is waay too long, but i hope to keep reading about your sensor and everything! :)
Goodluck Kerri!